Cheap CPU upgrade

[T_Yamamoto]

I've been looking around for a cheap CPU upgrade to this aging rig. I currently have a E4300 on my Dell.

I'm wondering if getting 1066mhz fsb CPU will give me an increase in performance.

I'm actually planning on buying a E6320 since it has 4M L2 cache compared to something like the E6400 which is clocked higher but with only 2M L2 cache.

If I had the money I would buy the 50 dollar Q6600 thats on Amazon for used. (I only have 26 dollars in Amazon credit).

 

[NTMBK]

I've been looking around for a cheap CPU upgrade to this aging rig. I currently have a E4300 on my Dell.

I'm wondering if getting 1066mhz fsb CPU will give me an increase in performance.

I'm actually planning on buying a E6320 since it has 4M L2 cache compared to something like the E6400 which is clocked higher but with only 2M L2 cache.

If I had the money I would buy the 50 dollar Q6600 thats on Amazon for used. (I only have 26 dollars in Amazon credit).

My 2 cents? You're not going to notice the improvement from that E6320, and you're just going to wind up buying a $50 CPU in 6 months' time/a year's time anyway.

Wait, save up, and buy a Q6600.

 

[Sheep221]

Get G1610, Gigabyte H61 board and 4GB Kingston stick, NEW for price of $120, it will be at least 10 times faster than your current one

don't upgrade your 7 year old system

 

[T_Yamamoto]

My 2 cents? You're not going to notice the improvement from that E6320, and you're just going to wind up buying a $50 CPU in 6 months' time/a year's time anyway.

Wait, save up, and buy a Q6600.

I think thats the best thing to do.

Get G1610, Gigabyte H61 board and 4GB Kingston stick, NEW for price of $120, it will be at least 10 times faster than your current one

don't upgrade your 7 year old system

I'm trying to get this old computer to survive until I graduate (only one more year of high school).

 

[JWade]

I would hold out and get the q6600, whats the model of dell by the way?

I know you also said amazon, but geeks.com has the e6600 2.4ghz 4mb for $29 before shipping.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I would hold out and get the q6600, whats the model of dell by the way?

This is a Dell Dimension E520 that originally came with a Pentium D 820

 

[Arachnotronic]

I think thats the best thing to do.

I'm trying to get this old computer to survive until I graduate (only one more year of high school).

Sell that 660 Ti in your sig and put together something new...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Sell that 660 Ti in your sig and put together something new...

Or I could just wait another year.

I've been trying to sell this for a while now.

 

[Yuriman]

I doubt you'll notice any dual core to dual core upgrade that will fit in your board. Go quad (if the board supports it) or don't bother.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Get G1610, Gigabyte H61 board and 4GB Kingston stick, NEW for price of $120, it will be at least 10 times faster than your current one

don't upgrade your 7 year old system

This. Then spend $50 and get an ATX mid-tower case for it, and slap in that 660ti. Full of win!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm trying to get this old computer to survive until I graduate (only one more year of high school).

But why? Parents? Won't let you build a new-looking PC, but will let you upgrade your old one?

 

[Kenmitch]

What about the poor mans bsel mod option? Doesn't look that hard to do.

Here is a old thread with e4300's as test subjects

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=3963

Bumping your chip to 1066fsb should be doable.

 

[toyota]

you bought a 660ti to put in a rig with an E4300? um even that 9800gt is being held back so what on earth were you thinking?

 

[Blastman]

Anandtech tested 4MB vs 2MB L2 cache performance CPUsIntel's Core 2 Extreme & Core 2 Duo and the larger L2 averaged 3.5% faster on a bunch of programs. Not really worth it. As others pointed out, the only real upgrade would be to a much faster C2D or a quad like the Q6600.

 

[VirtualLarry]

you bought a 660ti to put in a rig with an E4300? um even that 9800gt is being held back so what on earth were you thinking?

Perhaps he can fill us in, but I believe he won it in some sort of online contest.

 

[toyota]

Perhaps he can fill us in, but I believe he won it in some sort of online contest.

oh. well he should sell it then.

 

[NTMBK]

Hmm, actually, an E8400 seems to still be getting $30 used on Amazon. I say sell the part, and use the money from that combined with what you already to buy the Q6600. You could even buy the Q6600 first and sell the E8400 if your parents would give you a bridging loan.

Alternatively, sell the 9800GT, combine that with the money you have, and buy a standard mATX case and power supply to fit that 660ti in. (Assuming that the Dell mobo would fit into a mATX case, of course.)

 

[Arachnotronic]

This. Then spend $50 and get an ATX mid-tower case for it, and slap in that 660ti. Full of win!

Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with this. You could probably sell the C2D + 9800 GT and get nearly $120...

 

[Matt1970]

In that price range look for the e7600. 3M Cache, 3.06 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB

 

[Cerb]

This. Then spend $50 and get an ATX mid-tower case for it, and slap in that 660ti. Full of win!

Then $90-100 for Windows.

So off-hand, that's $120+50+$95, or $265.

Meanwhile, a used Q6600 costs $50-70.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19312684/19705955.aspx

A 6600, with an upgraded BIOS, looks good. Or, any 65nm 800/1066MHz C2Q. Don't settle for any thing less than a 4MBx2 L2 quad, if you're going to put money into such an old PC.

It looks like you must stick to 65nm models, with 800 or 1066MHz FSBs.

 

[SPBHM]

stock Q6600 is not really that great, but compared to the e4400 it is I suppose...

I think you can buy a QX6700 for around 80 on ebay...
that's an extra 266Mhz, and if your MB/cooling can handle the power usage, and allow multiplier changes (probably not) you can OC this to 3GHz or more without touching the FSB.

 

[NTMBK]

stock Q6600 is not really that great, but compared to the e4400 it is I suppose...

I think you can buy a QX6700 for around 80 on ebay...
that's an extra 266Mhz, and if your MB/cooling can handle the power usage, and allow multiplier changes (probably not) you can OC this to 3GHz or more without touching the FSB.

He's a kid in high scheel having trouble scraping together $50, recommending he spend another 60% on top doesn't seem very helpful.

 

[SPBHM]

He's a kid in high scheel having trouble scraping together $50, recommending he spend another 60% on top doesn't seem very helpful.

if that's the case, he should sell the 660 TI ($200-250?), and buy a $100 VGA.
because I think the experience would be better than using the 660 Ti on this dell PC with some low clocked Core 2 Duo...

5600k+$50MB+7790+4GB ddr3 should be possible with the money he have+ what he can get for the used 660 ti + the other parts!?

 

[Cerb]

stock Q6600 is not really that great, but compared to the e4400 it is I suppose...

It's a world of difference. The 1MB and 2MB cache models have aged very poorly, even the later 5xxx series (I'm pretty sure the cache is cut by way, instead of lines/way, as far as why they're that way). Not a great upgrade in total, I agree (but, 5600K? FX-6300/6350 all the way!), but it will be far better than a starved Conroe, and should cost <$70, with a little effort in finding a good seller for the CPU ($45-60 for CPU, ~$5 for new TIM, and $1-2 for alcohol, if none is available, to clean the IHS and HS base).

 

[SPBHM]

It's a world of difference. The 1MB and 2MB cache models have aged very poorly, even the later 5xxx series (I'm pretty sure the cache is cut by way, instead of lines/way, as far as why they're that way). Not a great upgrade in total, I agree (but, 5600K? FX-6300/6350 all the way!), but it will be far better than a starved Conroe, and should cost <$70, with a little effort in finding a good seller for the CPU ($45-60 for CPU, ~$5 for new TIM, and $1-2 for alcohol, if none is available, to clean the IHS and HS base).

5600K was $30-40 cheaper last time I checked, and it should be enough for most games (and clearly an upgrade from the Q6660 or E4xxx), but sure, the 6300 is better.

sure the Q6600 is far better than what he have... but... 2.4GHz Kentsfield + 660 Ti...